Anchoring means for vehicle seats



April 3, v1945. R. s. TURNER ANCHORING MEANS FOR VEHICLESEATS Filed Dec.2, 1943 42 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. 2

W M NTOR FiGL5 f April 3, 1945. R. s. TURNER ANC'HORING MEANS FORVEHICLE SEATS Filed Dec. 2, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 3, 1945ANCHORING MEANS non vnnropn SEATS Robert 5. Turner, Oklahoma City, Okla;

Application December 2, 1343, Serial No. 512,655

6 Claims. (01. 45-137) My invention relates to means for removablyanchoring vehicle seat frames to fioors.

When the frames of seats such as used in busses, trains, etc., arebolted to the floor, as is the usual practice, much labor is entailed inaccomplishing their removal. Such removal becomes necessary when certainrepairs to the vehicle are needed, and when the seat frames are boltedin place, requires'the labor of two men, one above and one beneath thefloor. The same is true when the seats are to be re-installed.

The prime object of the present invention is to provide a seat anchoringmeans which may be quickly operated by one person from a position abovethe vehicle fioor, yet which will hold the seat frame as firmly in placeas do the bolts of present use.

The present invention is intended as an improvement over my pendingpatent application, Serial Number 506,285, and filed on the 14th day ofOctober, 1943. It is also-intended as an improvement over United StatesPatent No. 2,331,- 060 issued to me on the th day of October, 1943, andentitled: Seat or chair securing means. both of those seat anchoringmechanisms the clamping or anchoring device was permanently carriedeither by the floor or the seat frame.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a seat frameanchoring mechanism which may be used in connection with seat frames ofpresent construction, and which will require little or nore-modification of such seat frames.

A further object is to provide a removable seat anchoring mechanismwhich requires a mintion, etc., from opening the same.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when takenin connection with the accompanying two-sheet drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a vehicle floor with aconventional seat bracket thereon, the anchoring or clamping devicebeing shown operatively connected to the two, and be.-

ing in a fully closed and locked position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view detailing the manner in whichthe bottomsof the seat bracket legs are engage'd with the "fioortoprevent sliding movement;

Figure 3 is an .enlargedfragmentary viewof I the mechanism shown in Fig.1, with the clamping mechanism shown in a partially closed. or clampingposition, a portion of the floor being broken away; I v

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the clamping mechanism ina completely closed position, the lock member being shown in full linesits un-locked position, and the dotted lines illustrating its positionwhen it is in locking position;and, I V

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the upp r hook, looking at the narrowedge of the flat shank, and illustrating the twisted hook portion. Likecharacters of reference illustrate like parts in all the figures. f

In the drawings; The reference numerals '1, 2, and- 3indicate usualboards of a vehicle fioor,.,and the reference numeral 4 indicates as awholea conventional seat bracket, ,of pipe -.construction, and beingsimilar to many seat brackets .now in use. So far as they pertain to thepresent invention, the floor could well be of any material, and thebracket could wellbeof any design so long asit includes a horizontalmember-5. spaced above sary that the-bracket 4 be prevented from lateralsliding movement along'the-floor, and to this end a'simple manner hasbeen'shown in Fig. 2, wherein the bottom of the leg 6 hasa' footplate 8equipped on its nether surface vwitha dowel pin adapted to fit within aperforation Win the fioor board 2. I

A further necessity in rendering my clamping mechanism practical is theprovision'in the floor of some suitable hook-engaging means. Inthepresent instance I have shown for this ofiice'a conventional eye-bolt llconsisting of an eye portion l2 and an integral exteriorly threaded boltportion I3. Such a hook-engaging means has been found to be easy toinstall, reliable, and

comparatively cheap 'to manufacture. The eyebolt H is installed bymerelyputting a plate i l around the bolt portion l3, thrusting the boltportion through a perforation inthe floor, and installing a suitable nutI5. In the present instance, there has been shown a metal channel ironl6 beneath the floor board 3 and through which the portion l3 extends.

The invention per se includes a stirrup for enveloping the member 5 ofthe bracket 4 at a point directly above the eye-bolt II. This stirrupmay be of any suitable form so long as it includes a dependinghook-engaging loop, such as a perforation 2|.

The clamping or anchoring mechanism includes a rigidly constructed bodyor shackle 22 having two spaced parallel sides or legs 23 and 24, whichhave their lower ends integrally connected by a floor 25. The upper endsof the legs 23 and 24 are alignedly perforated transversely to receive apivot pin 26. A substantially L-shaped lever arm 21 has one end confinedbetween the upper ends of the legs 23 and 2d, and this end is perforatedtransversely to also receive the pivot pin 26 whereby the lever maypivotally swing upon the pin. The pin 26 should be held rigidly withrelation to the legs 23 and 24 by some suitable means, for instance, byspot welding. In cross-section the lever 21 is channel-shaped throughoutits entire length as is clearly discernible in Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

Adjacent the juncture of its two right angle portions 28 and 29, thelever 21 is transversely perforated to receive a pivot pin 30, and thepin 30 passes through the lower flattened portion or shank 3| of anupper hook 32 which is adapted.

to be removably engaged within the perforation or loop 21 of the stirrup20.

As a means for removably engaging the lower end of the shackle 22 withthe eye-bolt H, there is provided a lower hook 35 having its shank 36threaded to engage a perforation in the floor 25 of the shackle 22. Thethreaded shank 36 makes it possible to adjust the clamping mechanism tocompensate for varying distances which might occur between floor and themember 5 of the seat bracket.

It, is pointed out that the hook portions, or the free ends 31 and 38respectively of the hooks 32 and. 35, may be twisted slightly side-wiseto facilitate their installation within the loop 2| and eye I2. Thisfeature is illustrated in Fig. 5 with relation to the upper hook 32.

It is obvious that the above described clamping or anchoring mechanismmay be installed upon any floor by merely boring suitable holes for theeye-bolt l2, andby providing a suitable stirrup 20 to fit theconfiguration of the horizontal memher 5 of the brace at hand.

In operation, the hook member 32 is inserted in the loop or perforationin the stirrup 20. The lower hook 35 is inserted in the eye of theeyebolt l 2. The hook 35 may be rotated in the floor 25 of the shackle22 to so adjust the over-all length of the clamp, when closed, so that apositive downward pressure will be placed upon the horizontal element 5of the seat bracket.

After the hooks are in place as illustrated in Fig. 3, a piece of pipeor other suitable handle will be placed over the leg 29 of the L-shapedlever 21, and the leg will be forced downwardly to the position as shownin Fig. 4.

As a means for locking the lever 21 in such closed position, there isprovided an endless substantially square loop 40 which is located aroundthe shank of the upper hook member 32. The locking loop 40 is of theproper dimension to closely envelope the upper portion of the shackle22. When lowered into place, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, itrests upon the then upper edges of the leg 29 of the lever 21, andpositively holds the leg 28 thereof in longitudinal alignment betweenthe legs 23 and 24 of the shackle.

It is pointed out that the locking loop 40 also acts to reinforce andstrengthen the entire clamping mechanism, and due to its presence theshackle legs 23 and 24, and the lever 21 can be made of lighterconstruction than would otherwise be necessary. In fact, there isactually less material in the entire mechanism, including the stirrup 20and the eye-bolt II and associated parts, than is now present in thenuts and bolts usually used to anchor a vehicle seat to the floor. Thereare only two of the present mechanisms required to hold each vehicle,seat firmly in place upon the floor.

It is thought to be obvious that the above described seat anchoringmechanism provides an efiicient means for holding a seat firmly anchoredto the floor, yet is so designed that it may readily be attached to andwill then function with usual seat brackets.

I claim:

,1. The combination with a floor having a rigid anchoring member, andwith a seat frame having a horizontal element spaced above said member,of means for clamping the member and element in rigid spaced relation,including: a stirrup enveloping said element and providing a dependingloop having a perforation; a substantially U-shaped shackle withupstanding legs, said shackle having a threaded perforation through itslower central portion; a depending hook having a threaded shankadjustably engaged within said perforation; an L-shaped lever having oneend pivotally engaged between the upper ends of the shackle; an upperhook engaged within said perforation and having its depending shankpivotally connected to the lever at a point spaced from the pivoted endthereof; and means for locking the lever with its free end located atthe lowermost end of its permitted travel.

2. The combination with a floor having a rigid anchoring member, andwith a seat frame having a horizontal element spaced above said member,of means for clamping the member and element in rigid spaced relation,including: a stirrup enveloping said element and providing a dependingloop having a perforation; a substantially U- shaped shackle withupstanding legs, said shackle having a threaded perforation through itslower central portion; a depending hook having a threaded shankadjustably engaged within said perforation; an L-shaped lever having oneend pivotally engaged between the upper ends of the shackle; an upperhook engaged within said peroration and having its depending shankpivotally connected to the lever at a point spaced from the pivoted endthereof; and a locking loop adapted to surround the shackle and leverfor locking the lever in a position at which its free end is located atthe lowermost end of its permitted travel.

3. The combination with a floor having a rigid anchoring member, andwith a seat frame having a horizontal element spaced above said member,of means for clamping the member and element in rigid spaced relation,including: a stirrup enveloping said element and providing 9, dependingloop having a perforation; a substantially U.- shaped shackle withupstanding legs, said shackle having a threaded perforation through itslower central portion; a depending hook having a threaded shankadjustably engaged within said perforations; a substantially L -shapedlever having one end pivotally engaged between the upper ends of theshackle; an upper hook engaged within said perforation and having itsdepending shank pivotally connected to the lever at a point adjacent itsangle; and means for locking the lever in a positionat which its freeend is located at the lowermost end of its permitted travel.

4. The combination with a floor having a rigid anchoring member, andwith a seat frame having a horizontal element spaced above said member,of means for clamping the member and element in rigid spaced relation,including: a stirrup enveloping said element and providing a dependingloop having a perforation; a substantially U- shaped shackle withupstanding legs, said shackle having a, threaded perforation through itlower central portion; a depending hook having a threaded shankadjustably engaged within said perforation; a substantially L-shapedlever having one end pivotally engaged between the upper ends of theshackle; an upper hook engaged within said perforation and having itsdepending shank piv- I otally connected to the lever at a point adjacentits angle; and a locking loop adapted to surround the shackle and leverfor locking the lever in a position at which its free end is located atthe threaded shank adjustably engaged within said perforation; anL-shaped lever having one end pivotally engaged between the upper endsof the shackle; an upper hook engaged within said perforation and havingits depending shank pivotally connected to the lever at a point spacedfrom the pivoted end thereof; and a locking loop slidably disposed aboutthe upper hook and adapted to be lowered into a position in which itsurrounds the legs of the shackle, a portion of the lever, and the shankof the upper hook, whereby the lever is held against movement withrelation to the shackle.

6. The combination with a floor having a rigid anchoring member, andwith a seat frame having a horizontal element spaced above said member,of means for clamping the member and element in rigid spaced relation,including: a stirrup enveloping said element and providing a dependingloop having a perforation; a substantially U- shaped shackle withupstanding legs, said shackle having a threaded perforation through itslower central portion; a depending hook having a threaded shankadjustably engaged within said perforation; an L-shaped lever having oneend pivotally engaged between the upper ends of the.

, and shank are held against movement with relation to the shackle.

ROBERT S. TURNER.

